We’re all aware that “the heart wants what it wants,” but sometimes not even Selena’s wise words can prevent us from going down the rabbit hole of falling for someone we’re not supposed to fall for. When we become obsessed with the wrong person, songs about loving someone who is taken fall short.
What do we mean by that? Whether you’re pining over someone who’s in a committed relationship, trying to get together with someone who’s married, or even trying to get over someone who’s moved on, you probably don’t want to listen to songs that attest to the fact that you’re wrong.
While there’s nothing wrong with watching from afar, we don’t need to tell you that being with someone who is taken isn’t the way to go. Stomping over someone’s relationship for the sake of your own happiness isn’t something you want to do, no matter how attractive, soft-spoken, and protective they are.
However, we do understand that you’re probably having a hard time not thinking about the fact that your knees become weak every time you come near them or that you forget your own name every time you catch a whiff of their perfume. Before you start beating yourself over that, know that you’re not alone.
With that out of the way, though, you need to figure out how to move forward. Not all people come into your life at the right time, and you need to understand that you might be falling for the right person but you’re not falling for them at the right time. Needless to say, you need to figure out a way to move on.
We’re not saying that songs about loving someone who is taken are a cure-all, but they’re a great starting point. What are you waiting for?
What are the saddest songs about loving someone who is taken to get you through a tough time?
1. “Leave Your Lover,” by Sam Smith
“Pack up and leave everything,
Don’t you see what I can bring?
Can’t keep this beating heart at bay,
Set my midnight sorrow free,
I will give you all of me,
Just leave your lover, leave him for me,
Leave your lover, leave him for me.”
2. “Treat You Better,” by Shawn Mendes
“I won’t lie to you,
I know he’s just not right for you,
And you can tell me if I’m off,
But I see it on your face,
When you say that he’s the one that you want,
And you’re spending all your time,
In this wrong situation,
And anytime you want it to stop,
I know I can treat you better than he can.”
3. “Jolene,” by Dolly Parton
“Your beauty is beyond compare,
With flaming locks of auburn hair,
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green,
Your smile is like a breath of spring,
Your voice is soft like summer rain,
And I cannot compete with you,
Jolene.”
4. “You Belong With Me,” by Taylor Swift
“But she wears short skirts,
I wear T-shirts,
She’s Cheer Captain, and I’m on the bleachers,
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find,
That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time.“
5. “Don’t Cha,” by Pussycat Dolls
“I know you like me (I know you like me),
I know you do (I know you do),
That’s why whenever I come around,
She’s all over you,
And I know you want it (I know you want it),
It’s easy to see (it’s easy to see),
And in the back of your mind, I know,
You should be on with me.”
6. “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m bored,” by Ariana Grande
“Then I realize she’s right there
And I’m at home like, “Damn, this ain’t fair”
Break up with your girlfriend (Girlfriend),
Yeah, yeah, ’cause I’m bored.”
7. “The Other Woman,” by Lana Del Rey
“The other woman will always cry herself to sleep,
The other woman will never have his love to keep,
And as the years go by, the other woman will spend her life alone,
Alone.”
8. “Beautiful Liar,” by Beyoncé and Shakira
“I trusted him, but when I followed you,
I saw you together
I didn’t know about you then ’till I saw you with him again,
I walked in on your love scene,
Slow dancing,
You stole everything, how can you say I did you wrong?”
9. “My Best Friend’s Girl,” by The Cars
“‘Cause she’s my best friend’s girl,
Well, she’s my best friend’s girl, girl,
And she used to be mine,
She’s so fine.”
10. “Rumor Has It,” by Adele
“Bless your soul, you got your head in the clouds,
She made a fool out of you,
And, boy, she’s bringing you down,
She made your heart melt,
But you’re cold to the core,
Now rumor has it she ain’t got your love anymore.”
11. “I Know You’re Married But I Love You Still,” by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner
“You know I love you and I always will,
I know you’re married but I love you still,
The day I met you my heart spoke to me,
It said to love you through eternity.”
12. “Saving All My Love For You,” by Whitney Houston
“A few stolen moments is all that we share,
You’ve got your family and they need you there,
Though I’ve tried to resist being last on your list,
But no other man’s gonna do,
So I’m saving all my love for you.”
13. “Want U Back,” by Cher Lloyd
“Boy, you can say anythin’ you wanna,
I don’t give a “shh” no one else can have ya,
I want you back, I want you back,
Wan-want you, want you back (Uh!)
I broke it off thinkin’ you’d be cryin’,
Now I feel like “shh”, lookin’ at you flyin’,
I want you back, I want you back,
Wan-want you, want you back (Uh!).”
14. “Magnets,” by Disclosure featuring Lorde
“Smoke and sunset, off Mulholland,
He was talkin’, I was wonderin’ ’bout
You and that girl, she your girlfriend?
Face from heaven, bet the world she don’t know,
Pretty girls don’t know the things that I know,
Walk my way, I’ll share the things that she won’t.”
15. “Is There Somewhere,” by Halsey
“You’re writing lines about me, romantic poetry,
Your girl’s got red in her cheeks, ’cause we’re something she can’t see,
And I try to refrain but you’re stuck in my brain,
And all I do is cry and complain because second’s not the same.”
16. “Girlfriend,” by Avril Lavigne
“She’s like so whatever,
You could do so much better,
I think we should get together now,
And that’s what everyone’s talkin’ about.”
17. “Happier,” by Olivia Rodrigo
“Oh, I hope you’re happy
But not like how you were with me,
I’m selfish, I know, I can’t let you go,
So find someone great, but don’t find no one better,
I hope you’re happy, but don’t be happier.”
18. “Call Your Girlfriend,” by Robyn
“Call your girlfriend,
It’s time you had the talk,
Give your reasons,
Say it’s not her fault,
But you just met somebody new.”
19. “Ho Hey,” by The Lumineers
“I don’t think you’re right for him
(Hey) Think of what it might’ve been if we
(Ho) took a bus to Chinatown,
(Hey) I’d be standin’ on Canal
(Ho) and Bowery,
(Hey)
(Ho) She’d be standin’ next to me
(Hey).”
20. “Just So You Know,” Jesse McCartney
“Just so you know,
This feeling’s taking control of me,
And I can’t help it,
I won’t sit around, I can’t let ’em win now,
Thought you should know,
I’ve tried my best to let go of you,
But I don’t want to,
I just gotta say it all before I go,
Just so you know.”
21. “That Should Be Me,” by Justin Bieber featuring Rascal Flatts
“That should be me holdin’ your hand,
That should be me makin’ you laugh,
That should be me, this is so sad,
That should be me, that should be me.”
22. “The Other Girl,” by Kelsea Ballerini featuring Halsey
“Is it me? Is it you?
Tell me who,
Who’s the other girl?
Who’s the first? Who’s the fool?
Who’s the diamond? Who’s the pearl?
Are you mad? Me too.
And I wonder in his world,
Is it me? Is it you?
Who’s the other girl?”
23. “Thinking Of You,” by Katy Perry
“Cause when I’m with him,
I am thinking of you (thinking of you, thinking of you),
Thinking of you,
What you would do if you were the one,
Who was spending the night (spending the night, spending the night),
Oh, I wish that I,
Was looking into your eyes.”
24. “Baby,” by Clean Bandit featuring MARINA and Luis Fonsi
“Find me, in another place and time,
If only, if only you were mine,
But I’m already someone else’s baby,
Guess I had my last chance,
And now this is our last dance,
You fell through the cracks in my hands,
Hard to say it’s over,
But I’m already someone else’s.”
25. “Borrowed,” by Leann Rimes
“I know you’re not mine, only borrowed,
‘Cause you already belong to her, at least you said so,
But I’m starting to believe it ain’t the whole truth,
‘Cause when we’re lying side by side, I get the whole you.”
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